Beijing, May 4 (IANS): A pregnant woman from China's Hebei province who arrived in Hong Kong with a tour group earlier this week was told to return by immigration officials, the Shanghai Daily reported Friday.

It was the first such reported case since Hong Kong announced it wanted to ban Chinese women from giving birth on the island due to strained medical resources.

Due for her baby's delivery in July, the woman was a member of a tourist group which left Beijing for Hong Kong in April-end. She is from Beijing's neighbouring province of Hebei, according to Beijing Evening News.

On her arrival, officials ordered her to leave by train, the report added.

On April 25, Hong Kong's Secretary for Food and Health York Chow had announced that from next year the city's hospitals would stop admitting pregnant non-local women married to non-local men.

Chinese women have been choosing to give birth in Hong Kong partly to overcome the country's one-child policy and also to gain free education and the right to live in one of China's most developed and wealthiest cities.